These homemade butterscotch pretzel chocolate chip cookies are loaded with butterscotch morsels, chocolate chips, and pretzel pieces. Each bite is salty, sweet, soft, and a little crispy. There’s something for everyone in this completely irresistible recipe!
I was inspired to create today’s cookies by the crunched up pretzel pieces at the bottom of the bag. You know the pretzels that are too small to do anything with, but are still delicious? Those. They’re the perfect salty addition to my soft chocolate chip cookies and when paired with sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch morsels, each bite tastes like luxury.
Trust me, you have to make these!
These Are Upgraded Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’re looking to kick your chocolate chip cookies up a notch, this recipe is for you.
- Crunchy pretzels in each bite
- Thick and soft centers like my peanut butter cookies
- Crispy edges
- Caramel-y flavor from the butterscotch morsels
- Salty sweet like my chocolate covered pretzel cookies
- Chewy like my chocolate chip cookies
- Tons of texture
Ingredients You Need
This butterscotch pretzel chocolate chip cookie recipe is a lot like my soft chocolate chip cookies, so we’ll use similar ingredients. Have you tried those before? In addition to today’s recipe, they’re also the inspiration for my triple chocolate chip cookies, too. Love a good versatile dough recipe!
- Flour: We use all-purpose flour as the base of this cookie recipe.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch, a thickening ingredient, is the secret weapon in today’s cookies. 2 teaspoons give the cookies extra lift and leave them extra soft. You can’t taste it! If you don’t have any, you can skip it. If you enjoy soft and chewy cookies, it’s helpful to have cornstarch on hand. We use it in several of our cookie recipes, like our favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies and shortbread cookies.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.
- Salt + Pure Vanilla Extract: Both add flavor.
- Butter: Use room temperature butter. You can soften butter quickly with this trick or set the butter out 1-2 hours before you begin.
- Sugar: Use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar. Brown sugar yields soft chocolate chip cookies, while white sugar helps the cookies spread.
- Egg: 1 egg adds structure.
- Add-Ins: Pretzel pieces, butterscotch morsels, and chocolate chips make each bite different—and interesting! I love using butterscotch in cookie recipes. If you haven’t tried them yet, you MUST check out my oatmeal scotchies.
Overview: How to Make Butterscotch Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Cream the wet ingredients together.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. The cookie dough will be thick.
- Add the pretzels, butterscotch morsels, and chocolate chips. Beat until combined.
- Chill the cookie dough. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour (and up to 3-4 days).
- Roll cookie dough into balls. Use about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie.
- Bake until the edges are lightly browned. The centers will look soft when they come out of the oven. That’s when you’ll know you have those ultra soft-baked and chewy centers.
3 Cookie Baking Success Tips
- Chill the cookie dough. Chilling cookie dough helps prevent excess spreading. The colder the dough, the less the cookies will over-spread into greasy puddles. Chilling cookie dough not only ensures less spreading, but heightened flavor as well. All of the flavors in your cookie recipe will mingle with one another during the chill time. Whenever I make cookies, I try to plan ahead and chill the cookie dough overnight.
- Use an oven thermometer. Unless you have a regularly calibrated oven, your oven’s temperature is probably inaccurate. (Mine is!) For example, when you set your oven to 350°F, it might not really be 350°F inside. It could be 325°F or 375°F. While this might not seem like a big deal, it poses a huge problem for your cookies like over-browning, excess spread, under-baking in the centers, or uneven baking. I recommend keeping an oven thermometer inside your oven to help you set the proper temperature.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time. Place only one cookie sheet on the middle rack (not two sheets on upper and lower racks). I know that sounds crazy, but that’s how I bake every single cookie recipe. Why? You get the best possible results when the oven only concentrates on that 1 batch. I promise you that!
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Butterscotch Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These thick & chewy butterscotch pretzel chocolate chip cookies are extra soft with a salty pretzel crunch. Irresistible!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pretzel pieces
- 1/2 cup (90g) butterscotch morsels
- 1/2 cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- On low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be thick. Beat in the pretzels, butterscotch morsels, and chocolate chips on medium speed until combined. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3-4 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Roll into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each (I like using this medium cookie scoop), and arrange 2-3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. The centers should still look soft. While the cookies are still warm, press additional morsels or chips into the top (if desired and only for looks!).
- Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.